Hero's Help
by musi-elegance
Summary: Bella is on the run from Victoria. Set before Bella cliff dives, before Edward comes back, but after he left. All is owned by SM and Paramore.


The leaves were hitting my face, the branches scratching my legs. Everything was moist and wet and loud, the branches beneath my feet cracking loudly in my ears. I could hear my own short pants of breath, exposed in harsh gasps, ringing in my ears, and I bit my lip. Tears streaked down my face from the corners of my eyes, pushed there by the wind.

I was running.

I could hear her behind me, flitting through the trees with easy grace and I knew that my time was coming soon. The light from the trees flashed in my eyes; it would figure I would die on a beautiful day, a sunny day in a rainy, old town.

Her cackle was maddening, and I found myself spreading my arms out, pushing at branches. I lifted my feet with a grace I didn't know I had and ran faster than I thought possible, my breath disappearing from my ears, disappearing from me entirely.

My radar wasn't working as I tried to figure out where she was. Was she in front of me? Was it cat and mouse? When she killed me, would it be slow and painful, or quick and filled with nothing?

My mind halted for a moment as the world tilted dizzily, and I realized I was falling. My palms hit the wet growth of the forest floor with too much gravity, and I felt my cheek press against the cool leaves, calming my feverish forehead.

I didn't want to look up. I squeezed out my last few tears and thought of happy moments; I was trying so hard to postpone my pain, that I would bring back anything to make my heart flutter one last time.

As my chest heaved, I didn't notice my intake of breath. It was like my lungs were dead already, but I was still functioning; my tear ducts dried up, and I stared at the flickers of light that reflected off of still-wet leaves. I turned my vision partially upward. I was so close; up ahead, through a fence of trees, I could see my father's cruiser, parked in the drive way. I opened my mouth to scream, but thought better of it. _Let him think I got bit by a bear,_ I told myself, and the bitter laugh escaped before I had a chance to hold it hostage. My hysterical giggling ceased when I heard the screen door slam, and a voice called out, "Bella?"

_Don't let him come here,_ I pleaded with some god above. I might not have been religious, but if I could ever ask for one favor, it would be that she leave Charlie be.

I heard her mocking footsteps echo around me. I knew she was stealthy enough not to make noise, but her footfalls left barely-audible thuds in the ground, vibrations that shook the cheek that was pressed against the moss and leaves. I curled my hand around a fallen stick, the bark wet from the constant rain. I squeezed it hard, trying to pull myself to my feet, to face her. I wanted to be brave, like he would've been. If he had been there.

_Bella_.

I heard his voice in my head, cautious and worried, and I shook it against the ground, my shoulders slumped. My body ached too much to get up. I wasn't about to force it to take six or so steps to someone else's death, someone I cared for. I was going to let her have me, to get her revenge.

Instead of getting up, I waited. I heard that voice in my head again, and I smiled grimly at it.

_Back again?_ I thought, and I could hear the sarcasm in my thoughts. My fingers tightened on that branch, that voice pushing strength into my bones. I slumped once again, my head rocking against a fallen limb.

_Get up, please,_ it pleaded, and I laughed again, the hysterics coming. No matter what, though, I couldn't cry. My tears were gone now, and I was stuck in the woods with a vengeful vampire, talking to myself in my head.

_She's going to kill them if I do, _I answered it, that sugary-sweet, velvet voice I loved so much. My face crumpled in pain. _I miss you,_ I added.

I struggled to roll onto my side, or my back, but my arms would have nothing of it. My fingers stayed tightly wrapped around that stick, and I found myself clutching it for dear life, as my vision started to blur and sway.

_You can't miss me if you're dead,_ the voice pleaded, a mental tug in the back of my head. _Please, Bella. Get up. Get up for me._

_You left, _I accused, and I could hear the sharpness in my mind._ I needed you so much… you left me out of nowhere. How could you do that to me?_

Victoria's peals of laughter took a quick slide into howls of anger, and her footsteps came ever closer.

_I'm scared_, I told that voice in my head, managing to flop onto my back, dragging that limb with me. _I'm going to die a lonely death._

Her snarls were mixed with other sounds, I soon noticed, but I didn't dare to look up. Maybe she called another coven. Maybe they were fighting for who got my arms first, or my legs. My blood would be like the sweetest wine to them. Well aged and full of angst.

_Bella, Bella. I love you. Please get up_, it said, now. I squeezed my eyes shut and held that limb across my chest, squeezing it tightly, holding on. I tried to struggle to sit up, but my back had a sharp pain in it, and I was too winded to attempt it. Exhaustion tugged at me, and I could feel the world swaying as I stared at the canopy made by the trees.

_I can't_, I told it. _Too tired._

The snarls became louder and now there was screaming and words in another language, a shrill voice among all of them. I don't know how long I laid there for, waiting for my death. I became calm, humming to myself.

_Don't move,_ it said. I nodded loopily, grinning lopsidedly.

_Fine by me_, I said, and the hysterical giggles returned, exploding from my mouth like a fountain.

I could hear branches snapping around me. I wondered, briefly, if the LaPush kids had smelled her, but I doubted it. There would've been more barking, I mused, and the sarcasm in my thoughts made my lopsided grin very stern.

There was a scream, a blood-curdling one. It shook my body, and I was very aware suddenly of my wounds, of how they leaked my scent.

My right leg was throbbing, its bones aching. There was a gash on my forehead from the rocks I had scrambled over deep in the woods, and I was sure, somewhere in my sane piece of mind, my left wrist was broken, a sprain at least.

_Bella, _it said, again. I smiled at it, there in my head, calming me. _Alice says to hold still. I love you._

I frowned at this, my curiosity pulling at me.

_Alice?_ I asked, perking up. _Alice can see me?_

I realized, belatedly, that that was a stupid question. She probably saw the whole thing. I sighed.

_She keeps an eye on you,_ it laughed. _Bella, my Bella. Always getting into trouble._

There was a loud snap of tree branches somewhere above my head, and all of a sudden, a body broke through, stumbling backwards. Their ankles caught on the tree branch my head was resting against, and then they were down with a great fall, their head at my feet.

That red hair sparkled in the last light of the day. A pale face with anguished eyes snarled at me, but just as I was trying to scramble backwards, collect my legs and curl into the fetal position, her eyes closed, and she moved no more.

The tears came full force, rushing down my cheeks in waves. I clutched at that branch, too tired and bruised to get up. As long as she was gone, I was fine, I told myself. As long as she was dead, I would be okay.

More footsteps opened my eyes, but my vision was gray and blurry. There was more than one person, I noticed. More than one graceful person, velvet soft voices calling my name.

"Bella? Bella!"

They had seen me. Was I imagining it? Or had I known it all along?

A boot appeared over the log and suddenly there was a pale figure on his knees beside me, pulling my aching body into their arms. Topaz eyes and bronze locks dazzled my eyesight, and everything brightened suddenly, colors weaving together as my tears blurred my sight.

He squeezed me tightly, hugging me to his chest. Although there were no tears on his face, I could hear his chest rising and falling rapidly, unevenly. He was sobbing.

As gently as I could, I lifted my good hand to run it through his hair.

"You came back," I stated bluntly, and he smiled a sad smile, pressing his lips to my temple. He brushed his cool fingers over my forehead and my neck, eyes angry and upset. Sparkling for me.

"Because you broke your promise," he said, grinning grimly.

"What promise?" I mumbled, the world swaying again.

"I thought I told you not to be stupid and reckless," he said, and I laughed, the shaking of my chest rumbling my smarting back.

"I told you. I can't go one day without someone trying to do me in."

He laughed, then, frantically touching my hair and kissing my forehead, my lips, and my neck in turn. We sat there, surrounded by Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Carlisle, who stood at a distance. Of course. My leg was bleeding. I was glad they weren't too close.

"Why did you come back?" I asked, now, and he dusted those cool hands over my collarbone. He was the only one who was holding me, inhaling the scent of my blood, and was still unphased.

"Because in all my years, I've seen love die way too many times when it deserved to be alive," Alice piped up from somewhere above my head, and Edward kept staring at me, eyes locked to mine. I vowed never to look away.

I raised my eyebrows at the statement, and I reached up shakily to dust his hair from his forehead.

"And, well, because we knew that if we didn't do something about Victoria, those LaPush dogs would come out here and turn the place into a murder scene. And, okay…" she sighed, rolling her eyes playfully, "… we couldn't just let you die out here."

I smiled, and touched Edward's face.

"You must be my hero," I whispered, and he leaned down to press his lips to mine.

"And you must be my special emergency."

- fin


End file.
